A year after the fact the Commanders continue to lie about what happened with Lions OC Ben Johnson and nobody is buying it
Around this time a year ago Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was the hottest coach in the cycle. Multiple teams wanted him and it seemed like the Washington Commanders were the team that wanted him the most and they did a horrible job of hiding it. The Commanders planned to fly out to Detroit to […]
Around this time a year ago Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator
Ben Johnson was the hottest coach in the cycle. Multiple teams wanted him and it seemed like the Washington Commanders were the team that wanted him the most and they did a horrible job of hiding it.
The Commanders planned to fly out to Detroit to do an in-person interview with Johnson and Aaron Glenn. While the Commanders were mid-flight, Johnson informed the Commanders that he planned to stay in Detroit. The Commanders still flew to Detroit and interviewed Aaron Glenn. That is all that happened.
Since that happened the Commanders began a smear campaign via NFL insiders and none of what is being reported has ever made sense. It started with this one where Adam Schefter said this:
This came out right after the Johnson news initially broke. So Johnson was suddenly too expensive for teams. I guess the price tag doesn't matter in 2025. It didn't seem to matter when the Commanders were flying to Detroit on their dime to interview him either. Something they had not done with other candidates that year.
Then Albert Breer reported that Johnson didn't knock his first interview with Washington out of the park. That doesn't make a lot of sense because if it went so poorly, why are you flying to meet the guy who interviewed so poorly when you didn't even do that with the guy you actually hired?
Now if those didn't make a lot of sense, this week's report will make the least amount. Commanders insider Lake Lewis Jr. went onto the Rio Robinson show and said that he was told that the Commanders were en route to Detroit when Washington GM Adam Peters and Ben Johnson had a disagreement over the phone about Johnson wanting to keep Sam Howell as the team's quarterback when Peters wanted to draft Jayden Daniels.
Apparently Peters then canceled the interview and told the Commanders to turn the plane around. The same plane that actually landed in Detroit that day before the Commanders had an in-person interview with Aaron Glenn.
So just to recap…
- Ben Johnson was too expensive, so the Commanders flew out to meet with him.
- Ben Johnson didn't interview well, so the Commanders flew out to meet with him.
- Ben Johnson wanted Sam Howell to be his quarterback and didn't inform the Commanders of that until they were mid-flight to Detroit.
- It was the Commanders' idea to cancel the interview and walk away despite every report in the world saying it was Johnson who backed out.
- The Commanders were told to turn the plan around, but still went to Detroit to interview Glenn.
Yup, that all makes sense and totally tracks.
In a surprising twist, the Lions will not be heading to Berlin, Germany in 2025, but could still wind up playing an international game
The NFL tends to be pretty unpredictable when it comes to international games and who plays in them. For multiple reasons, it seemed like the Detroit Lions would be a lock to play in Berlin, Germany, in 2025, but they will not be. The NFL announced on Wednesday morning that the Indianapolis Colts will be […]
